Open thread: Capitals vs. Oilers

By
Washington Post Sports Editors

Faceoff: 7 p.m., Verizon Center; TV: CSN; Radio: 1500 AM

Update: 6:39 p.m.
Mike Green is not on the Capitals' active roster for tonight's game, which means he's been placed on injured reserve. Washington needed to displace some salary in order to activate Eric Fehr off long-term injured reserve and still be in compliance with the salary cap.

The team is not required to formally announce when a player is moved to either type of injured reserve, but if Green was placed on LTIR he would need to miss a minimum of 10 games and 24 days.

The Capitals have announced that Green was indeed placed on long-term injured reserve retroactive to Feb. 25, meaning he must miss a minimum of 10 games and 24 days. The earliest Green is eligible to be activated off LTIR is March 22 against Philadelphia.

Based on warm-up here is what the lineup should look like against the Oilers:

Sorry to post this again today, but the new threads have been coming fast and furious what with Fehr returning, Bäckis out, etc.

Just wasted to make sure everyone got a chance to see this before tonight's on-ice action begins.

And so, without further ado, Here are your Rooting Instructions for Wednesday March 9, 2011:

EDM (50 points) @ WAS (84 points): A win tonight moves the Caps into 2nd seed past BOS (who lost in MTL last night). EDM beat-up by the Flyers 4-1 rout last night. No Mercy, boys! Go Fehr. Go Holtby. Go Caps!!!.ATL (65) @ CAR (71): A win by ATL tonight makes things harder for CAR and helps TOR (who are currently only 4 points out of the 8th spot Go Thrashers.STL (67) @ CBJ (70): The West is still in chaos, with only 5 points separating the 4th through 11th seeds. The outcome of this game will do little or nothing to relieve the confusion. Go Blues.LAK (77) @ DET (86): I'm pretty sure Lefty & tom would like to see DET get their Wings clipped in the Southland. Go Kings.CHI (80) @ TBL (82) : A loss by TBL helps the Caps, obviously. However, CHI faces an uphill battle after losing last night to a much weaker FLA team. Go Blackhawks.CGY (79) @ DAL (79): Now this is a game that could prove pivotal in sorting out the Mess In The West. CGY is my 2nd favorite team (after the Caps), and--as previously mentioned--my religious beliefs prohibit me from ever rooting for any Dallas team. Go Flames.NYR (74) @ ANA (75): ANA--being a somewhat chippy team--seems well equipped to dish out some (well-deserved) punishment to those fruity Rags. And also the "Flying V"... I look forward to seeing images of Torts staring up at the ceiling and muttering "O Dear God, why do you hate me so much?" Go Ducks.

If the current status quo holds through the end of the regular season, Caps face MTL.

Anyone surprised that Chara didn't get suspended? Alan May was pretty indignant on Comcast. I guess if your boss's son is on the Bruins, it's not a good career move to suspend their all-star d-man. Is there any less professional operation in any professional sport than Colin Campbell's?

After taking several months to settle into their 'defensive'style of hockey, the CAPs seem to have it down. It the last four games, they've seemed to gotten their swagger back a bit. Now all that remains is for the offense to break out. If not tonight, then it may be soon. Get the offense back in gear, spurred by the power play, and the CAPs could go deep in the playoffs. You can sort of feel this coming. Will it be this week, month, in the playoffs, or maybe next year? But their on the brink. Can you feel it? LGC!

@zmega:
I watched Orlov at the World Jrs and knew he'd be good, but wow! I have been totally impressed since his very first shift with the Bears. Good positioning, good passer, not afraid to hit when necessary (but not a thug), knows when to stay back and when to pinch in. He has not looked like a rookie, which I guess is the result of playing in the KHL against men instead of boys.

Ha! I've been asking for "how" on the salary cap for some time and we finally get some info. As I speculated this morning, bringing Fehr back w/o LTIR to Green would blow the cap to smithereens. Anyone want details:

tomthenumbersgeek@nhlcap.com

Notes from Edm announcers through 2:

1) They GUSHED like Old Faithful over Holtby.

2) After Ovi PP goal, they were adamant Arnott should stay on point for PP and Ovi at hash marks. What I like is with Arnott, Ovi and Wideman out there, they can CYCLE.

3) They also gushed over Fehr, saying he was a "real steal" in his draft class.

Both goals were good. The Caps will need goals of that type as they go on. Bad turnover by Ovi leading to one on one chance for the Oilers (Holby bailed him out). He's got to have the puck out in front of him as he's transitioning.

That 2 on 0 passing sequence reminded me of a similar sequence the Caps had during the 2008-2009 playoffs against Philly (I think). That sequence also resulted in a goal. The Caps should have this one now.

Guess we just have to disagree about Ovi. He plays with a flair and a passion that doesn't always produce the "smart" play -- but he gets results. Turn him into a more cautious guy who always makes the "smart" play, and you will have lost a lot of what makes him special. I love the way he plays -- in my opinion it's very high IQ.

B) A shutout for Holtby would be fantastic. Who was it the other night — Roenick? Keith Jones? — who said Holtby will be the Caps' starting goalie next year, if not by the playoffs this year.

C) OK, the Oilers are the Oilers, but .... two goals and an assist for Ovi — could we be watching The Awakening at the right time of year? (Some of you will have to help me, since I haven't seen any of the goals .... were they Tip-ins? Classic Ovi?)

Actually, it should be Varly who? If he keeps missing more games then played, I am pretty sure we could see him gone over the summer. Just have to wonder how long GMGM and braintrust wants to see if Varly really does pan out as a keeper instead of trade bait.

Yeah, grain of salt because it's the Oilers, but at least it wasn't a 2-1 OT win either. Quality teams should win those games against weak teams 5-0, and the Caps just issued a tutorial on how to do it.

I hope we all just witnessed the rebirth of our once mighty power play.

I am dying to read what all the Usual Negative Nancys have to say about tonights game. I'm sure they will pull out some sort of negative.

For the record, and I have been saying this since last year, Holtby is the goalie of the future. Cool as a cucumber. Can't rattle him. He came back from that terrible shootout loss a few weeks ago and he looked great.

They keep saying that it is shutour #1 for Holtby but it is #2 in terms of his performance. The one goal against in the previous game was during Neuvy's watch. Holtby shut them out. He has not let a single goal in during the last two games.

I know it's only two games but I am starting to wonder if he might be better than our two, at least than Neuvy. Are they going to send him back?

Yeah, Caps have 3 starting goalies. One of them will have to go sooner rather than later. I'd have to cut Varly. He is just not durable enough to be a starter, especially when you have TWO others who are. Not a bad problem to have though.

Actually, it should be Varly who? If he keeps missing more games then played, I am pretty sure we could see him gone over the summer. Just have to wonder how long GMGM and braintrust wants to see if Varly really does pan out as a keeper instead of trade bait.

Posted by: BernieWolfeFan | March 9, 2011 9:48 PM | Report abuse

The Blackhawks had a goalie bacing up a superstar the traded away for nothing because he was getting hurt. That goalie was Dom Hasek. I want to make sure that Varly isn't going to be that kid of goalie before we trade him away. Holtby could still use another year in the AHL since this is his first year up ther anyway and Varly isn't going to cost a lot on his next contract so I say keep him for at least another year then start to decide. Also there isn't going to be a great trade market for goalies this free agent season with Tomas Vokoun and Ilya Bryzgalov both due to be free agents.

Yeah, Caps have 3 starting goalies. One of them will have to go sooner rather than later. I'd have to cut Varly. He is just not durable enough to be a starter, especially when you have TWO others who are. Not a bad problem to have though.

Posted by: Doom_and_Gloom

Where are these TWO other durable goalies?

Good win. Even though the Oilers stink, scoring 5 without your 1C is a big confidence booster.

Vokoun or Bryz would be sick. Not sure we could fit them under the cap though without cutting some other vets. But yeah, I agree no goalie moves need to be made until Neuvys contract is close to being up.

I know what you are saying about Varly is true. He misses a lot of games and it's frustrating to us (and to him I am sure). But he is more talented than Neuvy; with more potential for evolving into, as icehammer97 kind of implied, someone like Dom Hasek.

The combination of Varly & Holtby would be fantastic. Neuvy, though not as sickly as Varly, is also kind of delicate and shaky at times. Holtby has the potential tc become a solid, consistent, strategic, cool goal tender and would be the perfect counterpart for Varly.

FWIW, that SO goal by St. Louis should not have counted. The puck must be in a continuous motion towards the net. Once the motion has been stopped, the play is over. St. Louis stopped the puck to make that move and should not count. Nice move, but not legal according to the rules.

WOW Time travel at the phone booth tonight. Goals. Power play goals. Wings. Woo Hooo!
And, Holtby, just wow. I know, just Edmonton, but haven't those been the games that have driven us crazy all year when the Caps have fallen to lesser opponents?

Happy to see so much love for the new guys tonight -welcome to Washington, boys!

POSTGAME THOUGHTS:
To the dumba** poster that said earlier "let's not forget this was the Oilers." Thank you Captain obvious and just so your post doesn't take away from tonight's result - the Caps did what they should've done to a weak opponent. If it weren't for Habib it would've been 10-0 tonight. Knuble should've had a trick. And they did it without Backstrom and Green in the lineup. This win felt good because the Caps DOMINATED and did what they should've done. Wake up poster. Give the team credit rather than try to take the whole negative nelly approach.

HOLTBY: Congrats on your first NHL shutout. Solid job and some great saves early and late in the game.

OVIE: Hey coach - see what happens when you put Ovie down low??? Go look at that first goal over and over. See what happens when you have him on the point - nearly a shortie the other way. Stop having a brain freeze from the Haagan Daas. Congrats Ovie on 600 and Arnott on 900. Also Ovie's backcheck to get the 2 on 0 with Majo - classic. Notice how MAJO NEVER looked at the net haha. You knew he wanted Ovie shooting.

DEFENSE: Great job around the net and keeping things clear for Holtby.

FEHR: Welcome back big man. A little rusty but nice to see him get on the score sheet. Now let's start making it consistent.

A nice dominate win over a weaker team. That's what good teams do. Time to keep this streak rolling. Hurricanes blow in on Friday.

I am dying to read what all the Usual Negative Nancys have to say about tonights game. I'm sure they will pull out some sort of negative.

Posted by: capsfan0837 | March 9, 2011 9:50 PM

What took em 65 games to play a full 60 minutes? Did they have a new promotion from Habeeb starting tonight - play a full 60 minutes get your carpets cleaned for free? Hey, Habeeb! You can head over to E Fehr's house first!

He-he.

Seriously, the best time to get hot in any sport is the last quarter of the season. Whether it be Sept in baseball or December in football or in the conference tournament in the NCAA. Or even in poker the best hand to win is the last one.

Barkeep! Kool Aid all around! On me! Nobody leaves the bar without a red moustache tonight!

OK, we need a story from Katie - Yes, that be you, gal! - on...what in God's name did the coaches do with Holtby in between the ugliest shootout loss since the O.K. Corral and the last two games?

Last we saw, Holtby's lateral movements were more premature than, ladies, go ahead and tell us who. He goes down to Heshey for a few weeks and comes back Ken Dryden.

There's only one thing in the world I want on Friday night. OK, only two (I'm wanting a teak while I watch). Anyway, alls I want is 60 minutes. That's it, 60 minutes. And I don't mean those old windbags.

"Are you kidding? I could have done that against those chumps. GMGM still overpaid for him. Shoulda taken Getzlaf in the draft..."

--'Holtby S***!!!' With the Shutout!!! I take back what I said earlier. Start calling him "Doctor 'No'"!

"Are you nuts? A wet Kleenex® would have been just as good against the Oil..."

--'Smackintyre' who?

"...lucky for Johnny Rock Star. One man-dance with Stevie Mac would have ended his career."

--Le Brooksi 15 of 21 (71%) in the dot.

"...but Laich is supposed to be a wing...should have traded him for Pronger..."

--Sweet double-give-and-go by MoJo and Ovie.

"He's still not ready to be an NHL pivot..."

--Nice feed by Chimera for the second Fehr strike.

"...Chim%#@fhgsriv%$ still has concrete hands. Trade him now..."

--What???

"GMGM is an idiot. BB should be fired. And you're a pansie (sic.) who knows nothing about hockey if you disagree..."

OK. Whatever.

So I concede that it was just one (1) game. Against the NHL's worst team. And the Caps have a long, tough road ahead. But the boys did what they had to do tonight: They made the opposition pay for every mistake and they came up huge in doing so. I saw a great level of effort and execution from everyone, start to finish. Another win for the F Street Fun Bunch. What more could we ask for? Backis and Green back in the line up? Yes, that would be nice.

Bottom line: Haters need to shut up. For a while, at least.

Now it is time to prepare for Carolina on Friday. Let's show them that:

"What once was ours...is ours again. It shall never be taken...from us again."

Tom, Rhino, and Cap'n, you have outdone yourselves tonight. Guess we're all a little giddy after a win like that. Yeah, I know it's back to the division and reality on Friday, but it's nice to celebrate just a little bit tonight.

Don't feel sorry for the old "Boolin Wall". He knocked a good Caps team out too early. He also has the ring we all want !!

Great to see a big win, but remember the scary, dark place we are heading is very humbling to this franchise. Be humble !
(Many lonely, quiet walks back to my car in Landover after we entered that scary, dark place that seems to own our soul !)

"never taken from us again". Rhino, Yzerman is going to take that SE away from us for many years to come. The man from Detroit with the rings scares me much more than the lawyer from Vancouver with the g@y scarf !

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